After a three-day break, the Philadelphia Flyers got back into action Sunday at Xfinity Mobile Arena with a matinee tilt against the NHL’s unquestioned juggernaut — the Colorado Avalanche. But despite being completely outmatched on paper, the Flyers put up an admirable fight. They ended up falling by a score of 3-2, but their gutsy effort gave them something to hang their hat on.
The Basics
First period: 2:09 — Sean Couturier (Noah Juulsen, Owen Tippett), 8:28 — Brent Burns (Martin Necas, Jack Drury), 19:09 — Brock Nelson (Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar)
Second period: 1:47 — Valeri Nichushkin (Victor Olofsson, Devon Toews), 5:58 — Travis Konecny (Emil Andrae, Christian Dvorak)
Third period: Scoreless
SOG: 28 (COL), 26 (PHI)
Takeaways
The birthday boy connects
Sunday not only marked Sean Couturier’s 900th NHL game, but it was also his 33rd birthday. Fittingly, it was Couturier who opened the scoring early in the first period.
Owen Tippett got the play started by creating some space along the wall and finding a wide-open Noah Juulsen stationed on the blue line. Juulsen unleashed a blast from the point, and Couturier was in perfect position to redirect the puck past Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to make it a 1-0 game.
The Flyers’ 1-0 lead didn’t last long. Veteran defenseman Brent Burns ended up tying the game just a few minutes later. But in a game that turned out to be a back-and-forth battle, it was good to see the Flyers throw the first punch against the big, bad Avs.
Konecny bounces back after rough start
The play of Travis Konecny has been a topic of hot debate all season. While he ranks second on the Flyers with 23 points on the season, his play has been spotty dating all the way back to the middle of last season.
Sunday, fans got a glimpse of Konecny at both his best and his worst. In the first period, Konecny looked particularly out of sorts, missing routine passes and regularly falling victim to unforced turnovers. Late in the frame, Konecny had a chance to clear a puck out of the zone with the Avalanche on a power play. Konecny’s clearing attempt failed, though, and it directly led to Brock Nelson’s go-ahead goal. Konecny was openly self-critical when speaking with NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Ashlyn Sullivan between periods.
“Obviously, there’s things you can clean up. My clear on their second goal needs to get out. There’s little things, mistakes that are gonna happen. But as long as you stick to the game plan, I think it evens out that you’re gonna get your looks, and you gotta capitalize.”
Well, Konecny did end up getting some looks later in the game, and he did end up capitalizing on one. Early in the middle frame, Emil Andrae sprung Konecny for a breakaway with a stretch pass through the neutral zone, and Konecny beat Blackwood clean through the five-hole.
Konecny is arguably the Flyers’ best player, but his wildly inconsistent play has undoubtedly been frustrating. At the very least, it was a welcome sight for Konecny to light the lamp after such an ugly first period.
The Flyers put up a good fight
Professional athletes don’t care about moral victories. They want actual victories. But Sunday afternoon, despite being on the wrong side of the win column, the Flyers truly put in an effort that should have fans feeling encouraged.
The Avalanche are the best team in hockey, and the Flyers stuck with them until the final buzzer. Granted, the Flyers were coming off three days of rest while the Avalanche were playing their third game in four days. Would this game have been as close had Colorado been rested? It’s impossible to say. But one thing is certain — the 2024-25 Philadelphia Flyers aren’t putting up a fight like this against a team of this caliber. In years passed, this is unquestionably a rout.
But this year’s Flyers have a certain grit to them. They battle, and even against the winningest team in the NHL, the Flyers didn’t go down without landing some haymakers.
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com.